The
Waud Bluff Trail bridge is now installed. It's not yet open for use,
yet, but Portland Parks & Recreation Bureau spokesman Mark Ross says
it will be soon. The trail will dramatically shorten the time it takes
to get from North Portland to Swan Island for bike and foot commuters.
The city broke ground on the $2.5 million project a year ago after six
years of outreach and planning. Because much of the work has happened
out of sight on the lower trail, most North Portland commuters see only
the traffic control cones the city installed for the project.

The
University of Portland has announced a challenge grant of $150,000 from
the Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund for the renovation of The Clark
Library. The renovations and gift are part of the school’s RISE
Campaign. The library renovation and rebuilding project began in May
2012 and is expected to cost $12.5 million. Designs call for a new,
modern library on the basic root structure of the old. The library is
closed during the 2012-2013 academic year, reopening in August 2013.

Troy
Susan, owner of Bamboo Craftsman Company, will celebrate his birthday
with a public party in Kenton Thursday. He'll show pictures from his
recent trip to Southeast Asia, and he'll dish out hot cocoa, hot
buttered rum and hot cider. Fishpeople, a new Portland company, will
donate their fish chowder to the event, too.

The
Peninsula Optimists are still trying to sell Christmas trees in their
North Lombard lot. All the money goes toward supporting youth groups in
the fifth quadrant. They also use the money to award scholarships to
Roosevelt High School students heading to a community or four-year
college.

Our
restaurant man Michael Russell suggests you get to Sweedeedee on North
Albina right now to try the honey pie. He writes, “For those who like
their sweets to lean savory, this dessert, like a pie version of salted
caramel ice cream, is the find of the year.” Owner Eloise Augustyn
opened Sweedeedee in August in a former kaleidoscope factory, sharing a
wall with the recently relocated Mississippi Records.